St. Paul daily globe., 1887-05-15
FORT BENTON.
The City at the Head of Navigable
Waters of the Missouri
River.
4 Presentation of It's Claims to be the
Commercial Center of the
New Northwest.
Something Of the Past, Present and
Future of the Most Promising
City of Montana.


town in Montana, although for several
decades it was only an Indian trading
fort, pure and simple, where few de-
termined and daring men headQuartered
for the purpose of carrying on trade
with the red man. In that period it was
the head center of the American Fur
company and the principal trading post
of the whole Northwest country, being
thus marked out by the experience of
the trader and the unerring verdict of
the Indian as the natural point the
central location, to which all trails were
easy.
THE GOLD PERIOD.
When gold was discovered i'll Montana
then Idaho in 1862, many of the seek
erS of the shining metal came to the
mines by the river route, the Fur COM
pany having inaugurated the steamboat
business on the Upper Missouri short
time prior to that date, and from this
time forward the place began to assume
something OF commercial Importance,
varying with the fickleneSs of placer
mining, Through the sixties and sew
entieS Fort Benton was the entrepOt of
the territory, to which point'all freight
was shipped by the river route, and
thence distributed to all parts of the
country by the slow but certain bull and
mule trains. During this time, how
ever, change was gradually taking
place. The
PLACERS PLAYED OUT,
but the great bonanza quartz mines
alOre than filled their places. The buf-
salO disappeared and in their stead came
she domestic animals and the great cat
de, sheep and horse industries. The
Union and Northern Pacific railroads
entered the territory and the business
of the river was cut down to smaller
area, but an area of
RAREST RESOURCES
which developed rapidly and Fort Ben
ION continued TO be an important COM
mercial center and the supply and ship
Ding point for the great stock, agricul-
rural and mineral region of northern
Montana. From an incOngruOuS col
lection of log and adobe houses ten
..'ears ago. Fort Benton has grown into
IN inviting city with more substantial
buildings and
MORE WEALTH,
n proportion to population, than proba-
Oily any other town in the Northwest.
/ is regularly organized city with a
population ,. of about 1000, and its mer-
chants transact annually an enormous
rNusineSs, the country for 100 miles or
.'r more III all directions being for the
most part tributary to it. The finest
store buildings and the largest stocks of
merchandise in the territory are found
here, such being required to meet the
demands of the trade.
BUILDINGS.
The public and private buildings of
-Ort Benton are not equaled anywhere
s'yy town of the same proportions, as
viii be in some measure shown by the
ollOWing reference to few of them:
a IS n n hGf ~ i.1y
vo stories and basement, of tasty arch
-ectural design, occupying choice
-entral location, and cost $4,000.
The Jail, standing on the same square,
-,ne-StOry brick, with rOomy basement,
md furnished throughout with steel
.:ageS and all modern improvements,
cast S15,000.
The school houses, which stand on a
,dock reserved especially for this pur-
lose, consists of the first building, one
story brick, which cost $1,000, to which
N l. was added, when needed, which
-aost $1,000. The second building, which
-he growing requirements of the town
demanded, is tWO-Story brick with
stone baSement-a beautiful. substantial
and commodious building, costing $685.
100, and the finest temple of learning in
-lfontana.
The Sisters hospital, two-story brick,
cost $4,000.
The Catholic church, large frame
building and dwelling of the Fathers,
stands upon square devoted exclusive
~ to its use, cost, we presume, $4,000.
The neat little Episcopal church, built
of brick, cost 81 900.
"'wO splendid brick hotels ornament
our StreetS-one three-StOry, sixty rooms,
costing $4,000; the other tWo-stOry, with
twenty-five rooms. costing $4,000 or
.;15, 600. Also two nice frame hotels,
reoreSenting an outlay of $4,000.
IL of our leading mercantile houses
occupy, without exception, brick build
nngS, some of them doubled, two-story,
and all having splendid cellars, which
cost from 200 to $4,000 each. In ad-
,litiOn to this they have large outside
warehouses for receiving and forward
ing freight.
FIT CETERAs.
There are three church organizations
Catholic, Episcopal and Methodist
one of the best general schools in the
territory, two banks, the Office of the
collector of customs for the district of
-dontana and Idaho, a daily newspaper
and all the ct ceteras of live and pro-
gressiye Western city.
RESOURCES.
Northern Montana, of which Fort
Benton is the central city, is i'm the main
uevoted to stock growing and agricul-
Iure, although with the advent of the
railroad its immense coal fields will give
rise to another great industry. Here is
round in unlimited quantities the best
rOal i'll the Northwest, and it is already
practically demonstrated that it will
make an excellent article of coke, for
which there is even now a demand for
many train loads daily in the silver and
copper mining districts of the territory.
Cheap transportation is alone needed to
start this industry into active life, and
that is near at hand.
STOCK.
In 1886, 76,775 head of cattle valued al
S1.T49. .795: 14T, ,2S7 head of sheep, valued
at 1921, 500; 6,490 head of horses, valued
at S223, ,565, were assessed in ChOteau
county, of which Fort Benton is the
seat of government. This represents
really less than two-thirds of the num-
Der and value of the herds and fockS in
the county, as the assessed valuation is
supposed TO be only two-thirdS of the
actual, and often it is much less than
that. The great ranges in this section
are not eXcelled in the West, of which
fact the severe winter just past was an
excellent test. The losses on our north
ern ranges were not as heavy as in
other portions of the territory. Wool
growing Is one or the most important
industries of northern Montana, and its
Importance to Fort Benton is fully
shown by the statement that
1,250,000 POUNDS OF WOOL
were sent to market from this point via
the Missouri river last year, with the
prospect that the shipments of this sea-
son-from Fort Benton alone-will
reach 100000 pounds. Much of this
wool is sold here to buyers, who gather
in numbers during the season. This i'll